Geography of Canadawww.CraigMarlatt.com/school

Environment & Sustainability

Environment & Sustainability

1. How Much Land do we Have?

2. Defining the Environment and Sustainability

3. Who Will Speak for the Thneeds?

Defining Environment & Sustainability

• Stewardship refers to the responsibility we all have to the environment and resources that has been left to us by our ancestors. We are all stewards to our planet.

• Sustainability refers to the ability to develop in order to meet the needs of the present without negatively affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs

Defining Environment & Sustainability

• If we are not all following our role as stewards in the global village, then we will not have a sustainable environment for our future children.

• “We do not inherit the earth from our grandparents, we borrow it from our children.”

• We must all do our part to keep our consumption of resources to a minimum ad the environment around clean. Are you doing your part?

Geography of Canadawww.CraigMarlatt.com/school

Ecological Footprint

We Depend on Nature

• We exchange energy and matter with our environment as we– Eat– Drink– Breathe

• We use – Energy for heat and mobility– Wood for housing and

paper– Food and water for living

We Depend on Nature

• Nature

– Absorbs our wastes

– Provides climate stability

– Protects us from ultraviolet radiation

• In cities we tend to think of nature as a collection of commodities we obtain from around the world

• But nature is the very source of our lives and well being

Ecological Footprint

• Ecological Footprints are a measure of human impact on the Earth. – The footprint equals the Earth’s cost to sustain one

person. – It is measured in hectares and represents the land

area needed to provide resources and absorb waste and greenhouse gases produced by an individual.

How many Earth’s do we need…

• Ultimately, your footprint (how much of the planet and its resources you consume) is calculated.

• If your total is multiplied by 6, that would represent how many earths (yes, that’s right, how many earths) we would need if everyone on the planet used the same amount of resources you do.

Ecological Footprints

• Energy Land– Fossil energy

consumption requires CO2 sink

Ecological Footprints

• Consumed Land– Built

environment

Ecological Footprints

• Farm Land– Food

production

Ecological Footprints

• Forest Land– forest

products

Transportation Footprints

• If one person travels 5 kilometers twice each workday: – Bicycle: 122 sq

meters

– Buses : 301 sq meters

– Cars: 1,442 sq meters

Agricultural Footprints

• Open Field production of tomatoes takes up more land than greenhouse production

• But Greenhouse production has a much larger ecological footprint (10-20x)– Energy– Fertilizer– Other inputs

Urban Footprints

• Imagine New York City covered by a bubble like Biosphere II in Arizona

• Most people would die within a few days

• Cities depend on much greater amount of land, environment for vitalityhttp://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970408.html

Urban Footprints

• Now imagine how big that bubble would have to be for the city to be self-sustaining

• This is the ecological footprint of the city

• Actually 347,000 square miles – to support 20 million in U.S.

lifestyle– size of Texas and Oklahoma

combined.

National Footprints

• Holland population 15 million• Density = 4.4 People per Hectare• Consumption is less than in

Canada• Still, Dutch people require 15x

more land than is within their country for– Food– Forest Products– Energy Use

• Therefore, the ecosystems that support Holland lie far beyond their national borders

• It’s a good thing almost half of the people living on earth are starving and have no land or possessions…

Ecological Footprint

• World Average – 2.2 hectares

• Biggest Footprint – United States – 9.6 hectares

• Smallest Footprint – Bangladesh – 0.5 hectares

• Average Canadian Footprint – 8.6 hectares– Canada has the 3rd highest footprint in the world!– Why is Canada’s average footprint so big?

Ecological Footprint

• We require …..• 0.2 hectares of land for water (to drink & provide seafood)

• hectares of land for home and roads and factories that make the material things we crave

• 1.6 hectares of land for farmland to grow the food we eat• 0.3 hectares of land for grazing land for meat and dairy • 1.4 hectares of land for timber wood and paper products• 4.7 hectares of land and needed to absorb the greenhouse

gases produced by driving around town, through the running of air conditioners and the import of exotic goods and foods

= 8.6 hectares

Ecological Impact of Nations

• The map on the following slide shows various countries and regions of the world proportionate to their production and consumption of commercially traded fuels.

• All figures are in million metric tons of oil equivalent.

Ecological Impact of Nations

Ecological Footprint Poster Project

• You have been hired by Environment Canada as part of the elite “Sustainability Squad”. Your task is to create a poster illustrating the term “ecological footprint” and its relationship to society and nature.

• Be as creative as you would like within the confines of the time you have. The posters will be marked and displayed in the classroom.

Ecological Footprint Poster Project

• You may use both drawings and text to reveal your thoughts on what you would do to improve the ecological footprint that you will leave behind for your children and future generations.

• Think of the largest improvement or the smallest contribution you can make that will influence our society both now and in the future.

• Using markers and the paper provided create a meaningful messages to all those who read your poster as they too can understand the term “ecological footprint” and make a difference in societies relationship to nature.